


Appa

by MadameFluffnStuff



Series: Tearbending Tuesday [1]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: APPA LOVE DAMMIT, Aang (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Appa needs a hug, Bittersweet, Bloodbending (Avatar), Gaang (Avatar) as Family, I need a hug, This will make you cry, it's a good cry! but still a cry, no beta we die like men, psa to give your pets a hug, that's not a boast that's a warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:33:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27268042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadameFluffnStuff/pseuds/MadameFluffnStuff
Summary: Even Appa can’t fly forever......What if Appa had to be put down?
Relationships: Aang & Appa (Avatar), Appa & The Gaang (Avatar)
Series: Tearbending Tuesday [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1991008
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	Appa

It hurt. It hurt real bad. Appa never had a hurt like this before. It hurt even to breathe. That didn’t make sense to him. Not at all. Appa was a skybison. Surely this was just a bad dream. 

Surely Appa’s buddy would hear his bad-dream-kicks on his stable wall and wake him up soon. 

Appa didn’t know it was possible to struggle for air. He wished the hurt would go away.

He wished his buddy was here.

Appa couldn’t see really well, but that’s okay, though. He could feel the water-one nearby. She was touching his paw. Or was it his shoulder? Appa couldn’t really tell anymore. It hurt a lot. He was really thirsty, too.

He couldn’t see the water-one—couldn’t really feel her, either—but she  _ felt  _ heavy. Heavier than Appa. She shook a bit like he did when the man put the metal on Appa’s legs when Appa was barely older than a calf. It had hurt a lot, then, too. 

Appa licked her. At least, he tried to. His mouth was really dry. He was really, really thirsty. 

Appa couldn’t see very well, and he couldn’t hear very well, either, but—

Oh—Oh,  _ wow _ ! 

Appa could hear the little ones! His buddy’s younglings always sounded so nice. Their voices reminded Appa of curling up with his buddy, the water-one, and the rest of the older humans who made his buddy happy.

Appa hadn’t seen those older humans in a while. It made him kindof sad. His buddy’s herd was broken. That wasn’t right at all. His buddy already had his herd broken before—when they went into the storm and woke up in the cold.

Appa didn’t want his buddy’s herd to break again. 

He wished his buddy was here, too.

Appa’s chest almost didn’t move when he asked it to. It was a little scary, but the water-one was near.

Oh—Oh,  _ wow _ ! 

The rock-one was here, too! Appa couldn’t hear very well, but she sounded wrong. She was the rock-one, but her sounds were crumbling and a little broken. She usually fisted his fur because she liked her rocks more than him (but that’s okay, though. Appa’s buddy liked rocks  _ and  _ Appa). 

But she didn’t fist his fur this time. Appa couldn’t feel really well—and he was hurting a little more, now—but she was touching him too softly. That wasn’t like her at all. The younglings fisted his fur, though. They held him so tight that Appa felt it on his paw and shoulder where he couldn’t feel the water-one before.

Appa tried to make his happy sound, but it didn’t come out quite right. It made the younglings hold him tighter. Appa couldn’t purr really well—it was really just a friendly growl—but he tried. The sound didn’t come out quite right. It was too soft, and it made the water-one stop the scratches by his cheek—his  _ favorite _ spot even when he couldn’t really feel it—so she could tug his fur, too.

Maybe they were cold? That wouldn’t do at all. They were his buddy’s herd. They were Appa’s herd, too. 

Appa tried to move so he could hold them like he held his buddy when they both were tiny, but he couldn’t do it quite right. He couldn’t do it at all. 

Oh—Oh,  _ wow _ ! 

The rest of his buddy’s herd was here! 

The one who made his buddy laugh was here and—Oh! The injured-face one was here, too!

Appa’s buddy was going to be so,  _ so _ happy! His whole herd was together again!

The soft-hand-one who took off the metal on Appa’s legs when Appa was barely older than a calf was here. Appa felt her first. She touched his nose. Or was it his cheek? Appa couldn’t quite tell. He was really, really thirsty. 

Appa blinked, but he couldn’t tell if his eyes opened. It was really dark. It was like when he was in that underground place with his buddy and the water-one. He tried to move, but he couldn’t do it quite right. He couldn’t do it at all. He was really thirsty. The air fought to get away from him when he tried to breathe it in.

His buddy’s herd was warm and sounded really nice, though Appa couldn’t feel or hear them really well. They all  _ felt _ like they were heavy, but Appa couldn’t see what was weighing them down.

Why wouldn’t they get on his back? He had always carried the heavy things for them. He hated to see his buddy’s herd hurting. He hated it more when he could  _ feel _ it without being able to see or hear them really well.

Something tickled Appa’s nose. 

Oh—Oh,  _ wow _ ! 

Little Brother was here! 

Appa _ loved  _ his Little Brother. He was tiny, but that’s okay, though. Appa’s buddy and the soft-handed-one taught Appa how to be gentle. Little Brother touched Appa’s face—or was it his chin? It hurt too much to try to tell—and the ground. Appa would’ve thanked him if the air wasn’t fighting him. He couldn’t feel the ground really well, and it was starting to feel like he was falling.

It was really dark, too.

Appa hated the dark. Dark meant he couldn’t see his buddy.

His buddy’s herd moved all of a sudden, almost completely letting Appa go and sending him into a free-fall. Appa tried to move and right himself before he hit the ground, but he couldn’t do it quite right. He couldn’t do it at all.

Appa was born to fly. He didn’t want to hit the ground.

It was really dark, too. And it was hurting more than ever. 

Appa was really thirsty. He felt water running down his face. He couldn’t feel from where, though.

But then, something touched his tummy and gave him gentle pets. Appa felt it clear as day. It was warm and soft and reminded Appa of when he was tiny and sleeping with his sisters and his mother.

They were gone, now—his sisters and his mother—, but that was...that was okay, though. 

“...Hey there, buddy.”

Oh—Oh,  _ wow _ ! 

Appa’s buddy! He was here! Oh, he was  _ here _ !

Appa tried to purr but couldn’t get the air to speak for him. It wouldn’t make a sound. 

It was dark.

He tried to open his eyes. He wanted to get out of the dark so  _ bad _ —

His buddy held his face. Suddenly, Appa could see him. His smile was big—really,  _ really  _ big. It was really bright, too. Like a curl of sunshine. 

But he was  _ Appa’s _ buddy.

So he was  _ Appa’s _ sunshine.

“ _ Shhh _ ,  _ shhh _ ,  _ shhh… _ ” His buddy gave him pets in all the places Appa could feel them. Appa  _ felt _ where his buddy touched the ground. He wasn’t falling anymore. 

Appa could hear the little hum that the arrowed older humans used to sing. He remembered the soft sound echoing around the canyon every night to tell him and his sisters when it was time to go to sleep. 

The water-one was moving. Appa suddenly felt really warm. His buddy’s herd was all clutching him like they were flying and about to fall off.

It made Appa sad. They should know he would never let them fall.

Little Brother held on, too. Right onto Appa’s cheek. He held Appa tight like how he held the moonpeaches he tried to fly away with from Appa’s tree.

Appa would have licked him if he could. 

He would have held his buddy like when they both were tiny if he could, too.

It hurt everywhere, now. The water-one moved some more. Appa felt a little warmer. He was still really thirsty, though.

His buddy was still smiling. His happiness  _ felt _ warm like sunshine. This was good—as it should be. Appa’s buddy should always be sunshine.

Appa must have made sunshine, too, because his buddy smiled even  _ bigger.  _ He was making more human noises and hushes—pressing sunshine kisses to Appa’s face—but Appa couldn’t hear really well. That’s okay, though. His buddy’s love leaked into Appa through his buddy’s sunshine.

And, suddenly, Appa  _ felt _ like  _ he _ was the one being flown around this time.

His buddy’s sunshine was still smiling, like he was flying Appa so high that the sky turned black and sparkly. He was still humming and using the people-talk, and Appa’s buddy somehow made Appa feel like when his mother hugged him when he was tiny.

Appa tried to move closer, but he couldn’t do it quite right. He couldn’t do it at all.

His buddy moved for him, held him tighter, and gave him more sunshine kisses than Appa knew what to do with.

Oh, Appa’s buddy was the  _ best _ . Appa loved his buddy  _ and  _ his sunshine. 

He was  _ Appa’s _ sunshine. 

Appa didn’t have his mother or sisters, anymore. 

So his buddy was Appa’s  _ only _ sunshine.

But that...that’s okay, though.

Appa’s buddy always made him happy.

Even when the skies were gray.

Like when they went into the storm and woke up in the cold with broken herds.

Appa felt a little warmer, now. His buddy’s sunshine flickered away for a second. It made Appa’s heart hurt. Appa  _ really  _ wanted to hold him, now.

Appa’s buddy should always have his sunshine. His sunshine meant he was happy.

Oh, if only Appa could tell his buddy how much he loved him. But his buddy couldn’t hear him, and the wind was being mean and not answering when Appa begged it to let him talk.

It was a little darker, now, but that’s okay, though. Appa wasn’t scared anymore. His buddy was here with his sunshine. And his buddy would never take his sunshine away. 

Appa’s buddy had Little Brother and Appa and his  _ whole herd  _ together!

And he had his sunshine. He should _ always  _ have his sunshine.

It was getting even darker, but that’s okay, though. The dark only made Appa’s sunshine even brighter.

Appa was really sleepy, now.

The dark crowded in like Appa was going backwards into a cave, but that’s okay, though. Appa’s sunshine would always be there, smiling, at the end of the tunnel.

Oh, Appa’s buddy was the  _ best _ . Appa loved him so,  _ so _ much. His buddy would never know how much Appa loved him.

It didn’t hurt anymore. Appa felt really warm. 

Oh, how he _ loved _ his sunshine.

His sunshine always kept him warm.

Even when it all went dark.

Oh—Oh,  _ wow _ ! 

_ Appa’s _ herd was here, too! 

His mother and sisters were so happy to see him! They were going to  _ love _ Appa’s sunshine!

Appa  _ felt _ his sunshine without seeing or touching or hearing his buddy.

Because Aang was Appa’s buddy.

He was Appa’s sunshine.

His only sunshine.

But that’s okay, though.

He made Appa happy.

Even when the skies were gray.

Appa’s buddy would never know how much Appa loved him. 

Appa  _ could _ ask his buddy to never take his sunshine away.

But Appa wasn’t worried.

His buddy would never leave him.

They would always be together.

He would never take his sunshine away.

Because Aang was Appa’s buddy.

He would always be Appa’s sunshine.

His  _ only _ sunshine.

Always.

**Author's Note:**

> (Katara bloodbended Appa to sleep if I didn’t write that clear enough)  
> (broken herd = broken heart...me trying to be fancy again lmao)  
> Also, if you want to cry some more, there's a companion Momo piece in this series! (will be up later tonight)


End file.
